LAST WEEK SARAJEVANS COMPLETED A NEAR UNBEARABLE SEQUENCE OF DESPAIR, EUPHORIA AND DISILLUSIONMENT

On the first afternoon of the recent offensive in which the Bosnian government massed more than 15,000 soldiers and began pushing against the Serbian lines near Sarajevo, the people of the city huddled in their apartments and waited. Some listened to explosions from the battlefields. Others attended to their battery-run radios. For hours the state-controlled media gave no information. Then at 3 p.m., listeners received the news: the government forces were advancing. All Sarajevo seemed to lift with joy. Radios were placed on windowsills so that music could fill the streets. Bottles of brandy were brought out for toasts. Days before,...